Thieves and Hackers Take Aim at Corporate America

The machine that is corporate America — whether we like it or not — fuels the economy and is the reason why Americans live in relative prosperity, even during down times. Corporate America is the backbone of our lives that can both provide and takeaway.

As our readers know, the editorial staff of the ITAC blog is always on the look out for trends, stories of the unusual, and of course, the best and worst folks in identity theft. Well, after hours of dedicated research, we have come to one conclusion: our beloved corporate America is under attack by hackers and thieves. And, we will tell you why.

Yesterday, electronics and electrical engineering titan Siemens has identified a new virus that, according to security experts, seems to be targeting the systems of manufacturing and utility companies. IDG News Service reported that the apparent purpose of the highly sophisticated virus is to steal top-secret and competitive information. This is straight our of the 2009 movie “Duplicity” where two corporations battle it out via spying only to get duped by two competitive corporate spies (Julia Roberts and Clive Owen) who are in cahoots. Life does imitates art.

While the virus identified by Siemens is shall we say “higher in the virus food chain,” a new form of corporate fraud is emerging where bad guys forge false business identities to make fraudulent purchases. Colorado’s Secretary of State and other officials are warning the state’s 800,000 or so registered businesses to watch out for these types of scammers who are making fraudulent purchases from several big-box retailers. So far, at least 35 businesses in the state have had their corporate identities misused to open fraudulent credit accounts at retailers such as Home Depot, Lowe’s, Office Depot, Apple and Dell.

Why do the bad guys target corporate America? Yes, this is a rhetorical question. Corporate America is both loved and hated and is the machine that has a great big bulls eye on its back. And, this bulls eye keeps getting bigger and bigger.